Sat-Tila Ekadasi

Sat-Tila Ekadasi (Trisprisha
Ekadasi) Sri Dalbhya Rishi said to Palastya Muni, "When the
spirit soul comes in contact with the material energy, he
immediately begins to perform sinful activities, such as stealing,
killing, and illicit sex. He may even perform many other terrible
deeds, such as killing a brahmin. Oh purest of personalities,
please tell me how these unfortunate souls may escape the
punishment of being sent to hellish regions of creation. Kindly
inform me how, by giving even a little in charity, one may be
easily be released from the reactions of his sins." Pulastya Muni
replied, "Oh fortunate one, you have asked me an important and
confidential question, which not even Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva or
Indra has ever asked. Please listen very carefully to my answer.
"With the arrival of the month of Magh (January - February), one
should bathe, carefully control his senses by giving up lust,
anger, pride, jealousy, faultfinding, and greed, and meditate on
the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna. One should
then gather up some cow dung before it touches the ground and after
mixing it with sesame seeds and cotton, form 108 balls. This should
be done on the day when the constellation of Purva-ashadha
nakshatra arrives. Then one should follow the rules and regulations
of Sri Ekadasi, which I shall now explain to you. "After bathing,
the person who intends to observe Ekadasi should worship the
Supreme Lord. While praying to Lord Sri Krishna by chanting His
holy name, he should promise to observe the Ekadasi fast. He should
remain awake overnight and perform a homa (fire sacrifice). Then
the devotee should perform an Arati ceremony for the pleasure of
the Lord - Who holds a conch, disk, club, and so on in His hands -
offering Him sandalwood paste to his feet, incense, camphor, a
bright ghee lamp, and delicious food preparations. Next the devotee
should offer the 108 balls of cow dung, sesame seeds, and cotton
wool into the sacred fire whilst chanting such holy names of the
Lord as Purusha sukta, and other names. Throughout the whole day
and night he should also observe the standard Ekadasi vrata (fast,
which in this case is a fast from all kinds of grains and beans).
On this occasion one should offer the Lord - pumpkin, coconut, and
guava. If these items are unavailable, betel nut may be
substituted. "The devotee should pray to Lord Sri Janardana, the
benefactor of all living beings, in this way: 'Oh Lord Sri Krishna,
You are the most merciful Personality of Godhead and the giver of
liberation to all fallen souls. Oh Lord, we have fallen into the
ocean of material existence. Please be kind to us. Oh lotus-eyed
divinity, please accept our most humble, affectionate and
respectful obeisances. Oh protector of the entire world, we offer
You our humble respects again and again. Oh Supreme Spirit, Oh
Supreme One, Oh source of all our forefathers, may You and Your
eternal consort, Srimati Laxmi-devi, please accept these humble
offerings.' "The devotee should then try to please a qualified
brahmin with a warm welcome, a pot full of water (purna kumbha), an
umbrella, a pair of shoes, and clothes (cloth - dhoti, and anga
vastra), requesting him at the same time to bestow his blessings,
by which one may develop unalloyed love for Lord Sri Krishna.
According to one's ability, one may also donate a black cow to such
a brahmin, particularly to one who is very well versed in all the
injunctions of the Vedic scriptures. One should also offer him a
pot full of sesame seeds. "Oh exalted Dalbhya Muni, black sesame
seeds are especially suitable for formal worship and fire
sacrifices while white or brown ones are meant to be eaten by a
qualified brahmin. One who can arrange to give both kinds of sesame
seeds (black and white or brown) especially on this Sat-tila
Ekadasi day will be promoted to at least the heavenly planets after
leaving this present body, for as many thousands of years as the
number of seeds that would be produced if the seeds he donated were
sown in the ground and grew into mature, seed bearing plants. On
this Ekadasi a faithful person should : (1) bathe in the water
mixed with sesame seeds, (2) rub sesame seed paste on his body, (3)
offer sesame seeds into the fire in sacrifice, (4) eat sesame
seeds, (5) give sesame seeds away in charity, (6) accept charitable
gifts of sesame seeds. These are the six (sat) ways in which sesame
seeds (tila) are utilised for spiritual purification on this
Ekadasi. Therefore it is called Sat-tila Ekadasi. "The great
Devarishi Narad Muni once asked the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Sri Krishna, 'Oh mighty armed Lord, Oh! You who are so affectionate
to Your loving devotees, please accept my most humble obeisances.
Oh Yadava, kindly tell me the result one obtains by observing
Sat-tila Ekadasi.' "Lord Sri Krishna replied, 'Oh best of the twice
born brahmins, I shall narrate to you an account of an incident I
personally witnessed. Long ago on earth there lived an old female
brahmini who worshipped Me every day with controlled senses. She
very faithfully observed many a fast, especially on special days
honouring Me (My various appearance days Janmasthami, Rama-navami,
Vaman Dwadasi, Nrisimha Chaturdasi, Varaha Dwadasi, Gaura Purnima,
etc.) and served Me with full devotion, devoid of any personal
motive. Her rigorous fasting made her quite weak and thin. She gave
charity to brahmanas and to young maidens (kanyas), and even
planned to give away her house in charity. Oh best of the brahmanas
although this spiritually minded woman gave charitable donations to
worthy people, the odd feature of her austerity was that she never
gave food to brahmanas or the devas (demigods). "'I began to
reflect on this curious omission: "This fine woman has purified
herself by fasting on all the auspicious occasions and by offering
Me strict devotional worship. Therefore she certainly has become
eligible to enter My personal abode, which is unattainable by
ordinary persons." So I came down to this planet to examine her,
disguising Myself as a follower of Lord Shiva's, complete with a
garland of skulls draped around My neck and a begging pot
(kumandalu) in My hand. "'As I approached her, she said to Me, "Oh
respectful one, tell me truthfully why You have come before me."
"'I replied, "Oh beautiful one, I have come to get some sacred alms
from you" whereupon she angrily threw a dense lump of mud into My
begging pot! Oh Narada Muni I simply turned around and went back to
My personal abode, astonished at this fine brahmani's peculiar
mixture of great magnanimity and stinginess. "'At last this austere
lady reached the spiritual world in her self-same body, so great
were her efforts at fasting and charity. And because she had indeed
offered Me a lump of mud, I transformed that mud into a beautiful
home. However, Oh Naradaji, this particular house was just like
that mud completely devoid of any edible grains, as well as any
furniture or ornamentation, and when she entered it she found only
an empty structure. She therefore approached Me and said with great
anger, "I have fasted repeatedly on so many auspicious occasions,
making my body weak and thin. I have worshipped You and prayed to
You in so many different ways for You are truly the master and
protector of all the universes. Yet despite all this there is no
food or wealth to be seen in my new home, Oh Janardana, please tell
me. Why is this?" "'I replied, "Please return to your house.
Sometime later the wives of the devas (demigods) will pay you a
visit out of curiosity to see the new arrival, but do not open your
door until they have described to you the glories and importance of
Sat-tila Ekadasi." "'Hearing this, she returned to her house.
Eventually the devas' wives arrived there and in unison said, "Oh
beautiful one, we have come to have your darshan. Oh auspicious
one, please open the door to your house and let us see you. "'The
lady replied, "Oh most dear ones, if you want me to open this door,
you will have to describe to me the merit one obtains by observing
the sacred fast of Sat-tila Ekadasi." But to this request, not even
one of the wives responded. "'Later, however, they returned to the
house, and one of the wives nicely explained the sublime nature of
this sacred Ekadasi. And when the lady at last opened her door,
they saw that she was neither a demigoddess, a Gandharvi, a
she-demon, nor even a Naga-patni. She was simply an ordinary human
lady. "'From then on the lady observed Sat-tila Ekadasi, which
awards all material enjoyment and liberation at the same time, as
it has been described to her. And she finally received the
beautiful furnishings and grains she had expected for her home.
Moreover, her once ordinary material body was transformed into a
beautiful spiritual form made of sac-cid-ananda (eternality,
knowledge, and bliss), with a fine complexion. So, by the mercy and
grace of Sat-tila Ekadasi, both the lady and her new home in the
spiritual world were at last radiantly splendid and lustrous with
gold, silver, jewels, and diamonds. "'Oh Naradaji, a person should
not ostentatiously observe Ekadasi out of greed, with the hope of
attaining wealth dishonestly. Selflessly, he should simply donate
sesame seed, clothes, and food according to his capacity, for by
doing so he will achieve good health and exalted spiritual
consciousness, birth after birth. Ultimately, he will be given
release from the bonds of this world (liberation) and admittance
into the Lord's supreme abode will be his to enjoy. That is my
opinion, Oh best of the demigods deva-rishis).' "Oh Dalbhya Muni,"
Pulastya Rishi concluded, "one who properly observes this wonderful
Sat-tila Ekadasi with great faith become free from all kinds of
poverty - spiritual, mental, physical, social, and intellectual -
as well as all kinds of ill luck and evil omens (sakuna). Indeed,
following this Ekadasi fast by donating, sacrificing, or eating
sesame seeds frees one of all past sin, without a doubt. One need
not wonder how this happens. The rare soul who properly performs
these acts of charity in the right devotional mood, following the
Vedic injunctions, will become utterly free of all sinful reactions
and go back to Godhead, back home to the spiritual world." Thus
ends the narration of the glories of Magh-krishna Ekadasi, or
Sat-tila Ekadasi, from the sacred Bhavishya-uttara Purana of Srila
Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa.